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Study on Pig and Sheep Reproductive Physiology: Zootechnical and Biotechnical...
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Study on Pig and Sheep Reproductive Physiology: Zootechnical and Biotechnical Methods

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Farm Animal Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 May 2023) | Viewed by 8112

Special Issue Editors

Dr. István Egerszegi

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Animal Husbandry and Animal Welfare, Institute of Animal Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Páter K. Str. 1., 2100 Gödöllő, Hungary
Interests: ruminants; pig; breeding; reproduction; gene conservation; local breeds
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Klaus P. Brussow

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Independent Researcher, 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany
Interests: pig reproductive physiology; pig; laparotomy; laparoscopy; fixed time insemination; GnRH; endocrine profil

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Artificial reproductive techniques were first used for the propagation of livestock species more than seventy years ago. The most widely applied procedure is artificial insemination; however, several species-specific differences must be accounted for in this process (source of semen, insemination techniques, etc.). Furthermore, the sheep and swine industries face remarkable challenges in improving the treatment protocols and techniques included in the ART processes to achieve as high a merit as in the dairy cattle sector. The usage of alternative minimal or non-invasive techniques are also in high demand, in order to meet the expectations of recent animal welfare and ethical concerns. Apart from the profit-oriented utilization of these methods, there is a growing interest in using them for gene conservation and gene banking purposes too.

This Special Issue therefore invites submissions addressing research related to the current status and future outlook of reproductive physiology, medicine and management to achieve practical applications for sheep and pig breeders, producers and people working in the field of gene conservation in future.

All types of articles, such as original research articles and reviews, are welcome.

Prof. Dr. István Egerszegi
Prof. Dr. Klaus P. Brussow
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • pig
  • sheep
  • artificial insemination
  • estrus synchronization
  • reproductive endocrinology
  • oocyte
  • sperm
  • freezing
  • IVF
  • pregnancy
  • gene conservation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2252 KiB  
Article
Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms Identified within Exon 2 of Fertility-Associated Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP15) Gene in Three Romanian Sheep Breeds
by Alexandru Marius Deac, Adriana Sebastiana Musca, Stefania Dana Mesesan, Marius Gavril Aipatioaie, Adrian Ionascu, Viorica Cosier, Attila Cristian Ratiu, Ileana Miclea, Ioan Ladosi and Marius Zahan
Agriculture 2023, 13(5), 996; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13050996 - 30 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2283
Abstract
The improvement of the reproductive traits of animals is of great interest for livestock production. Due to its positive impact on the sheep industry’s profitability, prolificacy is one of the most economically significant biological traits, showing variation between and within breeds of domestic [...] Read more.
The improvement of the reproductive traits of animals is of great interest for livestock production. Due to its positive impact on the sheep industry’s profitability, prolificacy is one of the most economically significant biological traits, showing variation between and within breeds of domestic sheep (Ovis aries). Different mutations in BMPR-1B, BMP15 and GDF9 genes coding for the transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) superfamily have been shown to influence the ovulation rate and litter size. Numerous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) gene have been linked to ewe fecundity. Using targeted PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing, we were able to identify heterozygous SNPs in exon 2 of BMP15 in three sheep breeds reared in Romania: Tsigai, Cluj Merino and Tsurcana. The sequence analysis revealed three previously documented mutations, namely the missense mutation c.755T>C (L252P), which is predicted to change the tertiary structure of the BMP15 protein, and two silent mutations, c.747T>C (P249P) and c.1047G>A (V349V). In addition, we also identified one novel silent mutation, c.825G>A (S275S). Based on our findings and publicly available data, we indicate four putative mutational hotspots within exon 2 of BMP15 that could be considered for improving the indigenous sheep breeds through targeted gene editing and SNP genotyping strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Study on Pig and Sheep Reproductive Physiology: Zootechnical and Biotechnical Methods)
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11 pages, 1899 KiB  
Article
The Role of Estrous Synchronization and Artificial Insemination in Improving the Reproductive Performance of Moo Lath Gilts
by Somsy Xayalath, Gabriella Novotni-Danko and József Rátky
Agriculture 2022, 12(10), 1549; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12101549 - 26 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2175
Abstract
Considering the different problems facing the Lao indigenous pig breed Moo Lath. This study was performed to evaluate the efficiency of applying estrous synchronization for the better reproductive management of this species with the use of Altrenogest Regumate® to increase the [...] Read more.
Considering the different problems facing the Lao indigenous pig breed Moo Lath. This study was performed to evaluate the efficiency of applying estrous synchronization for the better reproductive management of this species with the use of Altrenogest Regumate® to increase the litter size and birth weight of crossbred piglets using artificial insemination (AI) with Duroc semen. In total, 36 gilts (age: 6.5−10.5 months, weight at insemination: 36.60−51.42 kg) were used. The gilts were divided into three groups (G1, 2, and 3); G1 (18) were synchronized, while G2 (12) were not. Both G1 and G2 gilts were inseminated using Duroc semen, whereas a local boar naturally serviced the G3 (6) gilts. Our results showed that G1 produced the largest litter, compared with G2 and G3 (8.66, 7.50, and 5.50, respectively; p < 0.000). The birth weight of the piglets was not different between the groups (p = 0.464), and higher birth weight was observed in the gilts younger than 7 months and lower in those older than 9 months. In conclusion, the litter size of Moo Lath primiparous gilts was improved in the F−1 Duroc−Moo Lath crossbreed, but their birth weight did not. Moreover, estrous synchronization and AI are novel techniques among Lao farmers who still need more training. Both the optimal body weight and age of gilts at first mating should be clarified for a better economic outcome. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Study on Pig and Sheep Reproductive Physiology: Zootechnical and Biotechnical Methods)
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21 pages, 9003 KiB  
Article
A Lightweight Neural Network-Based Method for Detecting Estrus Behavior in Ewes
by Longhui Yu, Yuhai Pu, Honglei Cen, Jingbin Li, Shuangyin Liu, Jing Nie, Jianbing Ge, Linze Lv, Yali Li, Yalei Xu, Jianjun Guo, Hangxing Zhao and Kang Wang
Agriculture 2022, 12(8), 1207; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12081207 - 12 Aug 2022
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2893
Abstract
We propose a lightweight neural network-based method to detect the estrus behavior of ewes. Our suggested method is mainly proposed to solve the problem of not being able to detect ewe estrus behavior in a timely and accurate manner in large-scale meat sheep [...] Read more.
We propose a lightweight neural network-based method to detect the estrus behavior of ewes. Our suggested method is mainly proposed to solve the problem of not being able to detect ewe estrus behavior in a timely and accurate manner in large-scale meat sheep farms. The three main steps of our proposed methodology include constructing the dataset, improving the network structure, and detecting the ewe estrus behavior based on the lightweight network. First, the dataset was constructed by capturing images from videos with estrus crawling behavior, and the data enhancement was performed to improve the generalization ability of the model at first. Second, the original Darknet-53 was replaced with the EfficientNet-B0 for feature extraction in YOLO V3 neural network to make the model lightweight and the deployment easier, thus shortening the detection time. In order to further obtain a higher accuracy of detecting the ewe estrus behavior, we joined the feature layers to the SENet attention module. Finally, the comparative results demonstrated that the proposed method had higher detection accuracy and FPS, as well as a smaller model size than the YOLO V3. The precision of the proposed scheme was 99.44%, recall was 95.54%, F1 value was 97%, AP was 99.78%, FPS was 48.39 f/s, and Model Size was 40.6 MB. This study thus provides an accurate, efficient, and lightweight detection method for the ewe estrus behavior in large-scale mutton sheep breeding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Study on Pig and Sheep Reproductive Physiology: Zootechnical and Biotechnical Methods)
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